Dear Editor,

I love to shop as much as the next person so I’ve looked into why we do not have a shopping center similar to Crossroads. I found out that it is not just a matter of wanting it to come here. We need the population to support the retail. Investors do their own studies and a large retail center is not going to locate in a city that cannot support them. Plain and simple. Yes some of us like to believe we have enough population to support a large center, but we do not. You need to have about 50,000 people to attract them. Riverbank has the advantage (or the disadvantage depending on how you want to look at it) of drawing from Modesto, which is across the street. Riverbank alone could not support Crossroads. Do the math! Do we really want to turn into an area where one city runs into another. Not me! I hope there will always be a green belt between us and our neighboring cities, which Mayor Jackson supports. Oakdale is a special place, ask any one that has moved here and they will tell you it was the small town appeal that drew them here. Mayor Jackson has done a great job in bringing in businesses and jobs yet maintaining a community that is desired by many. He’s supportive of getting a grocery store on the west side of town as well as other types of retail. It is important to plan our growth as Mayor Jackson has been doing for the last 12 years. Thanks for your hard work and dedication to our community. You have my vote Mayor Farrell Jackson.

Jody Scroggins